St George’s Anglican Parish is the oldest between Whanganui and Hawera, dating back to the late 1860s. The first Anglican church was built around 1871. It was moved to where the present Vicarage now stands when the current church was built in 1885. The old one was used for Sunday School for many years, until it was pulled down to make way for the present Vicarage in 1956.
The original Anglican vicarage was built at 186 Egmont Street in the late 1800s. The Vicar needed a horse to get around his parish from Waitotara to Manutahi and Woodville/Alton. The Vicarage section extended to Hadfield St, to about where Manchester St is now. This allowed paddocks for his horses and house cows. This home was sold by the church in 1956 and is still a private residence.
By the early 1880s moves were put forward for the building of a new Church as the population of Patea increased. In those days it was the custom for the parishioners to apply for their seats in the Church, at a yearly rental and at this time applications exceeded the seats available. The new St Georges Church was consecrated on 5th March 1885 by Bishop Hadfield. The cost was £750 and was built by Thompson and Ellerm. The architects for St George's were Messrs Atkins and Clere from Whanganui. Frederick de Jersey Clere also designed St Mary's of the Angels, Wellington. Registered as a Category 1 heritage building with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. St George's received a $600,000 restoration in 2010, the work was undertaken by Ken Sandford Construction.
St Lukes Presbyterian 'Knox' Church was built on Oxford Street eight years after St Georges. The church site was purchased in 1876 in the names of Messrs W Aitchison and D Coutts. The church was opened on 2 November 1879 and cost £430 to build. In 1962 the Presbyterian and Methodists combined, and the church became The Patea Presbyterian and Methodist Church. In 1971 the church was moved to prevent it from shading the new manse. Mr Hunger donated the additional area of land required to reposition the church. A new porch was added at the time the church was moved at a total cost of $7,200. The original Manse associated with this church was moved to Kent Street in 1958 and is still used as a residence.
Methodist Church. In 1875 a quarter acre section on Stafford Street in Carlyle was granted by the Government and the church was built. An adjoining section was purchased the following year. The church measured 30 × 30 feet and was built by Edwin Holtham & Daniel R M Warren for the contract price of £55.10. The church was originally known as the Wesleyan Chapel, and later became known as the Methodist Church. Four years later it was enlarged with provision made for forty additional seats at a cost of £66.10. The original builders, Holtham & Warren completed these additions. After the amalgamation of the Methodist and Presbyterian churches in Patea in 1962, the church was used by the Wesleyan West Coast Māori Mission. The South Taranaki Māori Club (later known as The Patea Māori Club) used the Church for practice when they came into existence in 1970. They were made up of most of the Patea Methodist Māori Club members. The group was formed to practice for, and compete at, the 1971 first National Polynesian Festival at Rotorua. The Church was later used by the Assembly of God. The original shingle roof remains on the building but is covered with a corrugated iron roof. It was relocated to Manutahi Road at Lepperton in 2006, and until then it was the oldest church between Whanganui and New Plymouth still used for its original purpose.
St Patricks Catholic Church, 60 years have passed since the current Catholic Church was built and opened in Patea. This mid-century Linear Modernism concrete building was a much talked about piece of architecture when it appeared on the landscape. The dedication day on 21 December 1958 was a huge and long anticipated event. Archbishop Peter McKeefry did the official honours, assisted by Patea born Bishop Delargey, with our own parish priest Father John Rohan. Over a century earlier, before the township began, a French Catholic Priest walked into the area and meet with Maori that lived there.
This man was Father Jean Étienne Pezant, who had arrived in Akoroa from France in 1840. When the Marists moved to the diocese of Wellington in 1850, Father Pezant moved with them. In February 1852 he became the first parish priest in Whanganui, with oversight of the Taranaki area, and continued to do missionary work among the coastal tribes between the Patea and Rangitikei rivers, usually on foot. He was a fluent speaker of te reo, but the Pai Marire movement and land wars ended his mission work, He moved to the South Island in 1868. From the 1850s until the early 1880’s there was a band of French Priests that covered vast areas of remote country, working with Maori and the few white settlers there at that time. The names of these Priest’s from France that spent time in Patea are on the list at the end of this story, but the dates are unclear, as they came and went as the need arose. They would have performed baptisms, marriages and funerals in Patea, but there are no records surviving of these events until 1891.
Father Maurice Tresallet was another French Priest that spent time in Patea. On his arrival in New Zealand he spoke only French, but soon became fluent in the Māori language. A story I found in the Wairapapa Daily Times, tells of a memoire of a pioneering lady that met Fr Tresallet, when he stopped at her home in Turakina on his way north. She tried to tell him he could stay the night, but he couldn’t understand a word of english, and kept bowing and walking towards the door. It wasn’t until her husband came home and had the idea to asked the priest in te reo to stay the night. “The latter was overjoyed when he found there was a language which they both understood, and in it they conversed during a long evening”. In 1866 the Nelson Examiner tells of Father Tresallet attending to a man’s final rites in Nelson before he was executed. These pioneering Priests had an amazing aptitude for survival and fortitude in a country far away from their own.
In 1865 French born; Father Louis Rolland took charge of the parish from White Cliffs to Kai Iwi. He was a military chaplain with the 18th Royal Irish Regiment as well as parish priest and ministered at the military encampment at Patea. He rode a chestnut coloured horse which he later sold to William Sergeant, a Grenadier of the 65th Regiment, and it was from then on known as ‘the Priest’
Fr Rolland was a plucky, unpretentious ‘man of the cloth’. This account of Fr Rolland written by Major Von Tempsky after the first battle at Te Ngutu o te Manu on 21 August 1868 gives an insight to his character. (Von Tempsky was killed at 3 weeks later on 7 Sept at the second battle) “On that grey and rainy morning in 1868” wrote Major Von Tempsky, " when the snoring waters of the Waingongoro were muttering of flood and fury to come, when our three hundred mustered silently in column on the parade ground, one man made his appearance, who at once drew all eyes upon him with silent wonder. His garb was most peculiar; scant but long skirts shrouded his nether garments, and an old waterproof sheet hung loosely over his shoulders. Weapons he had none, but there was a warlike cock in the position of his broad-brimmed old felt, and a self confidence in the attitude in which he leaned on his walking stick, that said ' Here stands a man without fear.' Who is it? Look underneath the flap of his clerical hat, and the frank, good humoured, brave countenance of Father Rolland will meet you. There he was lightly arrayed for the march of which no one could say what the ending would be. With a good humoured smile he answered my question as to 'what on earth brought him there’. He said that in holding evening service he had told his flock that he would accompany them on the morrow and there he was! True, there stood, 'a good Shepherd." Through the rapid river, waist deep, along the weary forest track, across ominous looking clearings, where, at any moment a volley from an ambuscade could have swept our ranks, Father Rolland marched cheerfully and manfully, ever ready with a kind word, a playful sentence to any man who passed him. And when at last in the clearings of Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu the storm of bullets burst upon us he did not wait in the rear for men to be brought to him but- ran with the rest of us forward against the enemy's position. As soon as any man dropped, he was by his side, he did not ask ' are you a Catholic?' or ' are you a Protestant?' but kneeling prayed for his ' last words.' Thrice noble conduct in a century of utilitarian tendencies. What Catholic on that expedition could have felt fear when he saw Father Rolland by his side, smiling at death a living personation, a fulfilment of many a text preached? what Catholic could have but felt proud of being a Catholic on that day on Father Rolland's account?"
Father Rolland had great admiration for the troops and was with them wherever there was likelihood of fighting. He knew no fear. More than once his hat was riddled with bullets, but he would continue his ministrations with the same determination. His contemporaries often tried to get that old bullet riddled hat, contending that the Church of Taranaki had a right to it. “I am no saint” the old priest would reply “and I intend to leave no relics behind me”. He left Patea in 1875 and ended his days as Parish Priest at Reefton. When he died at the age of 68 in 1903, he was given a full Military funeral.
Father Jean Lampila was known to Maori he lived amongst as Hone Rapira. Before he came to New Zealand in 1841, he was a sergeant in the French army. He was based up the Whanganui River in the 1850’s and helped local Maori build Flour Mills. On 4 May 1864 he was ‘in the thick of battle’ at the Battle of Moutoa Island. It is reported in the Wanganui Chronicle the following day that his companion on the battlefield; Brother Fredleau was killed that day. Brother Fredleau was a carpenter from France and had been building Flour Mills with the Priest’s. In the 1870’s Fr Lampila was in charge of New Plymouth parish and came to Patea when needed. He returned to France in 1888 and died there 9 years later.
The first Catholic Church in Patea was built in about 1870 due to the efforts of Father Rolland and the efficacious Catholic businessman Mr Felix McGuire. Felix had been in the military and then set up a General Store in Patea in the late 1860’s. His store burnt down on 16th April 1876, as reported in The Patea Mail on 19th April, he moved to Hawera in 1877 and set up a Brewery on the corner of High and Cameron Streets and was elected Mayor of Hawera in 1881. Felix McGuire later spent 11 years in Parliament as MP for Egmont, while living in Okaiawa.
Felix McGuire was a firm believer in setting up infrastructure to give the town a sense of place, so a Catholic Chapel for the new township of Patea was essential. The Church is referred to as the 'Carlyle Catholic Chapel'. The Anglican’s built their first St Georges Church around the same time in 1871. The Methodist and Presbyterian Churches were built a few years later.
In 1844 an Wesleyan mission house was established near Wai o turi Marae, it was abandoned in 1848. In June 1875 a fierce west coast storm caused major damage to the Catholic Chapel, blowing it off its foundations. It was repaired in time for the visit of Bishop Francis Redwood in September 1875.
The Patea Mail 22 Sept 1875 tells of the plans for this memorial trip; ‘His Lordship Bishop Redwood has intimated his intention visit Patea on Friday next, and at a meeting of the Catholic residents of Carlyle, held on Monday evening last, to make arrangements for His Lordship’s reception, the following programme was arranged, subject to the Bishop's approval : —The reception committee will leave Carlyle at 11am. on Friday next, for Whenuakura, where His Lordship will be met, and a buggy (which has been placed at the disposal of the Committee by Mr McGuire) will be in waiting, in which the Bishop will be driven into Patea, accompanied by as many members the Church who can make it convenient to ride out. The buggy will halt opposite Mr McGuire’s cottage, and his Lordship will descend and partake of refreshment. An address of welcome will be presented to the Bishop in the Church at 7 p.m. It has been arranged that a number of young girls, dressed in white, with white veils, will form a line on each side of the aisle, under the charge of Mesdames Lyttelton and Wheelan, and as His Lordship enters the Church the children will sing the hymn of the Good Shepherd, At its conclusion, the address of welcome will be presented, when His Lordship’s reply will follow. After the ceremony being concluded, the Bishop will be driven out to Mr Burke’s residence at Manutahi, where it is understood His Lordship will reside during his stay in this district.’ A few days later the report of his visit was documented in the Patea Mail and it all went to plan as intended.
Father Eugene Pertuis took over from Father Rolland in 1875. The Patea Mail reports in May 1877 : “A little way above it, on a hill, are three places of worship, alongside each other. There is one for the Church of England, of which the Rev. Mr Dasent is the pastor; the Wesleyan Church, of which Rev. Mr Law is the minister; and the Roman Catholic Chapel in which the Rev. Father Pertuis celebrates mass. It is said that there is but one road to Heaven, and the Carlyle people follow this precept with regard to their churches, for all go in the same direction, and the separation only takes place on arriving at the doors of their respective religious edifices, to meet again when the devotions are over.”
Father Pertuis was very musical with a good singing voice, he liked to accompany the singing at Benediction by playing his Concertina. He also had a bent for mending timepieces of any description and also door locks. At that time, of course, there were few watchmakers or locksmiths in Taranaki, so his services even in this regard were often sought. He died in 1906 and is buried at Kaori Cemetery.
Rev Dean Michael Grogan from Dungamon in Ireland was appointed to the charge of the district in 1880, which then included the whole of the coast from Wanganui to New Plymouth. He remained here for four years, and during that time he paid off £760 of debt, built two churches and a presbytery, enlarged the church at Hawera, and secured land in six different districts for future church purposes. The Patea Mail on 4 May 1880 tells of the tribulations of a country Priest: ‘An Accident befell Father Grogan while driving a horse and buggy on Sunday morning, to attend service at the Carlyle Catholic Church. Descending the hill towards the Patea bridge on the Whenuakura side, the horse appears to have felt the trap pressing on behind, and kicking out it soon knocked its shoes through the front apron, injuring Father Grogan’s leg with the furious backward fling. The horse tore the shafts off the buggy, and was dashing away with them, but Father Grogan leapt from the machine at the same moment, and gallantly seizing the animal’s head brought him to a stand. The Father was not seriously the worse for his narrow escape, but the church congregation were knelt waiting more than an hour for his delayed appearance, before service could begin. It is the same neat buggy that was made by Messrs Williams for Father Ryan, and it can be repaired.
It was during Fr Grogan’s time that the second Catholic Church in Patea was built, replacing the old Chapel. The new building was built along traditional Gothic styles, 50ft long by 30ft wide. It had a choir loft above the front entrance which looked down on the altar. A small Presbytery was also built next door, where the Nuns Convent was later built in 1969. The Church was named St Patrick’s, and was opened by Bishop Redwood on December 18, 1881. This was built at a cost of £1400 and the adjoining Presbytery cost £250. It was designed by Wellington architect, Thomas Turnbull and built by James O'Dea. Fr Grogan went to Napier Parish in 1884, where he died in 1912 at the age of 69. Fr A D Mulvihill replaced Fr Grogan, he stayed for 7 years before he was transferred to Australia.
All the priests that administered in Patea up until this time did not live here. For almost 40 years they were in charge of a huge catchment, often from New Plymouth to Whanganui. The records of Baptism’s, Marriages and funerals during that time have been lost with the passing of time. Records in the possession of St Patricks Parish begin in 1891. the earliest Catholic Burial recorded in the Patea Cemetery…would it be 56 year old Michael Foley on 5 Sept 1878 Fr Pertuis was the officiating priest that day. There would have Catholic burials before then, but a special area was not set aside until then. Father Ryan covered the area for a few months in 1879
The first permanent Priest that lived in Patea was Father Thomas McKenna in 1891.In 1892 Fr McKenna had two fine rooms added onto the Presbytery with a beautiful bay window added to the new Parlour. He also had the sandhills removed from behind the Church and a lawn laid. Fr McKenna was born in Kilkenny Ireland and arrived in NZ soon after his brother Fr John McKenna in 1888 at the age of 24. After a few years in Masterton he went to Patea to set it up as an independent parish in 1891 When Pahiatua was established as a separate parish in 1894, Thomas returned as its first priest. John and Thomas McKenna were able administrators and outstanding pastoral priests who together laid the foundation of the Catholic church in Wairarapa. Both John and Thomas McKenna were famous throughout Wairarapa as enthusiastic sportsmen and able athletes. They represented Wairarapa at rugby, playing under their mother's maiden name; Wallace. Fr Thomas was made a Dean after his time in Patea. He is buried at Paihitua
During the time of Fr McGrath the Sisters of St Josephs arrived in Patea and the St Joseph Convent School was established on Suffolk St in 1904 with a roll of 72 children. The first Nuns were Sister’s Catherine, Angela, Margaret Mary, Elizabeth and Sister Peter. A house was built for them next to the School, it was demolished in 1970 when the new Nun’s residence was built.
Many students have past through its doors since. Two students that have gone on to the ‘worlds stage’ are ‘Soprano’ Lynne Cantlon and Reginald Delargey who became Cardinal of the NZ Catholic Church in 1976. His father Archibald, was Manager of the BNZ Bank in Patea in the 1920’s and his mother Kathleen sadly died at the age of 45 and is buried in the Patea Cemetery. The family moved away not long after, but her husband Archibald was buried beside her when he died 30 years later. Cardinal Delargey died in Auckland on 29 January 1979. After an impressive funeral, which was televised live, he was buried in the priests’ plot in Karori cemetery, Wellington.
Fundraising Bazaars and Tug-a-War competitions were all part of the activities to raise money for the new Catholic Presbytery under the guidance of Father Duffy. Kakaramea and Alton were the Tug-a-War teams to bet. In 1919 the new Presbytery was opened on a new site on the beach side of the Church. It is not known what happened to the old Presbytery, it may have remained standing for a few more years. Sadly Father Duffy didn’t get to enjoy his new home for long, as he died at the end of 1920 at the age of 44. His Obituary in the Patea Mail on 27 November 1920 tells of the high regard he was held in Patea: “Very general regret will be felt at the news of the death at Patea of Father Duffy who as the parish priest for fourteen years had become very sincerely liked and respected in Patea and district. He succeeded another popular priest, the late Father McGrath. He was born in County Longford, Ireland, forty-four years ago, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1902, spending the first 'few years of his clerical ministry at Pahiatua and Carterton. He had been in indifferent health for several years 3 and a short time ago it was found that an operation was necessary. Despite all that medical skill and the ministration of kind friends could do at home and in the Patea Hospital, he gradually failed and passed quietly away early on Friday morning”. He is buried in the Patea Cemetery next to Fr McGrath.
Fr Daniel McLaughlin was a Curate (assistant Priest) for Fr Duffy during WWI. He was born in Whenuakura in 1891, the son of Hugh and Mary McLaughlin and baptized at St Patrick Church Patea. The family moved to a farm at Rawhitiroa a few years later. During his time as a priest in Patea Father McLaughlin’s brother Lance Corporal John Joseph McLaughlin was killed in action in France. Fr McLaughlin went on to become Parish Priest for Marton and then Stratford, where he died and is buried in 1935.
The Hibernian Society was formed in Patea under the guidance of Fr Michael Broughton in September 1934. The first 11 members were initiated by the Provincial President; Bernard McCarthy (Lawyer) Hawera. It was a fellowship group and most Parish’s had a Hibernian Society, they would meet with other groups on a regular basis. Its purpose was to act as a Sick and Funeral Benefit, to a Life and Fire Insurance Soc, as well as a very successful Credit Union and a Permanent Building Society. Mary Boyle was Secretary/Treasurer from 1942 until she died in 2001.
Fr John Rohan was the longest serving Parish Priest – 36 years. He arrived in Patea in 1936, at the age of 36. Three years before WWII was declared and Patea was a boom town with a very strong Catholic congregation. A couple of years after he arrived my Great Aunt Suzie Dwyer started work as his Housekeeper. She was meant to stay only a few weeks until he found someone permanent, but almost 30 years later she was still there when Fr Rohan retired to Taupo in 1971. Sadly he died a year later at the age of 73. He was returned to his beloved parish of Patea and buried at the Patea Cemetery. Fr Rohan was a well respected man, he enjoyed a Sunday afternoon games of euchre at the Crawford home at Whenuakura. He was a regular at Circus’s and sporting events at Patea. Boxing Day Athletics at the Domain he could be found holding the Finish-Line Ribbon with Gordon Scown. They would walk into the middle of the track after each race, still holding the ribbon, to discuss who the place-getters should be.
It was during Fr Rohan’s time in Patea that the present Church was built. The last couple to get married in the old wooden St Patrick’s Church were Johnny and Noeline Kerrisk on 16 February 1957. The church was then rolled to one side of the section and continued to be used for Sunday services and more weddings until the new one was finished, the final one on the temporary site was Nola and Butch Railton. The old church was intended to be used as a Hall, but a huge storm in May 1958 caused major structural damage and it was demolished when the new Church was opened. The first couple to be married in the new Church was Hendrik and Rona Schrader on 7 Feb 1959
Vin Bloor won the tender to build the existing church and began the task in 1957. Vin was a WWII returned soldier and built among other things, the Matapu War Memorial Hall. He was to run into financial strife during the huge project of the new Catholic Church. He gave up building on a full-time basis at the completion of St Patrick’s Church and bought the Hurleyville Store and the small dairy farm attached to it, with his wife Mavis. But he did do an amazing job of the largely concrete constructed Church. It is approximately 490m² in size and the cost is thought to be £30,000. It was designed by well-known Wellington architect John W Standish, who tragically drowned in 1964. It was opened dept free, to the credit of Fr Rohan, who spent years canvasing the district for pledges from parishioners. The adjoining convent was opened by Bishop O N Snedden in 1970. Built at an approximate cost of $36,000 by Arthur Brown Construction of Hawera.
On 18 November 1973, while making arrangements by telephone at the presbytery for the accommodation of a convalescent priest whom he had just visited, McKeefry died suddenly, a cigarette smouldering between his fingers. He was buried in Karori cemetery after a funeral attended by numerous civic and ecclesiastical dignitaries and amidst copious tributes from within and beyond his own church. He was succeeded by Reginald Delargey.
The statue of St Patrick that was in an alcove high up at the front of the old wooden Church was still sitting under the Pohutakawa’s between the Church and the Presbytery in the 1980’s. It had been set on a concrete plinth that some well-meaning parishioners had poured into a mould, then sat the statue in it. When they checked on it after having a cup of tea, the statue had sunken into the concrete and was set in it up to its knees. It was a slightly sad end for a statue that watched over the town for 77 years.
On Sunday 21 December 1958, the newly built Church was officially opened to great fanfare. Pews which had been bought by various Catholic families were packed tight with the congregation. 300 could be seated, and many more were upstairs in the choir loft or in the foyer.
The job of keeping the copper stocked and boiling in the washhouse behind the Presbytery, for the cups of the tea afterward, was given to the Dwyer boys; Danny, Keiran, Kevin and Brian. There were cigars were lined up for the Priests and Bishops on a table nearby….this temptation proved too much for these curious youngsters, and they each lit a cigar to pass the time keeping the water boiling on that hot summers day.
Catholic Priest’s of Patea
1852 Father Jean Étienne Pezant
1863 Father Maurice Tressallet
1865 Father John Baptiste Louis Rolland
1874 Father Jean Lampila
1875 Father Eugene Pertuis
1879 Father Ryan
1880-1884 Father Michael Grogan, 1843-1912went to Napier in 1884, 2nd Patea church built in his time
1884-1891 Father A D Mulvihill
1891-1894 Father Thomas McKenna
1894-1895 Father Patrick Joseph Power
1895-1899 Father Golden
1899-1906 Father William McGrath
1901-1902 Father W Johnson (curate)
1906-1920 Father Edward Duffy
1916-1918 Father Daniel McLaughlin (curate)
1923-1925 Father P Masterton (curate)
1920-1922 Father Thomas Cahill
1922-1927 Father Edward Phelan
1927-1928 Father Edward Lynch
1928-1930 Father Nicholas Moore
1929-1932 Father C Harnett
1930-1933 Father Richard Hegarty
1932-1934 Father John Joseph Garrahy
1934-1936 Father Michael Broughton
1936-1971 Father John Rohan
Curates during Fr Rohan’s time:
Father Owen Dolan
Father J F Kelly
Father J Roy
Father W Walsh
Father R J Fitzgibbon
Father C Stapleton
Father H Costello
1971-1975 Father James McNeill
1975-1981 Father John McLaughlin
1981-1989 Father John Dykes
1990-1997 Father P J Cumiskey
1997-2004 Father Steve Hancey
2004-2009 Father Anthony Ford
2009-2013 Father Bill Casey
The original Anglican vicarage was built at 186 Egmont Street in the late 1800s. The Vicar needed a horse to get around his parish from Waitotara to Manutahi and Woodville/Alton. The Vicarage section extended to Hadfield St, to about where Manchester St is now. This allowed paddocks for his horses and house cows. This home was sold by the church in 1956 and is still a private residence.
By the early 1880s moves were put forward for the building of a new Church as the population of Patea increased. In those days it was the custom for the parishioners to apply for their seats in the Church, at a yearly rental and at this time applications exceeded the seats available. The new St Georges Church was consecrated on 5th March 1885 by Bishop Hadfield. The cost was £750 and was built by Thompson and Ellerm. The architects for St George's were Messrs Atkins and Clere from Whanganui. Frederick de Jersey Clere also designed St Mary's of the Angels, Wellington. Registered as a Category 1 heritage building with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. St George's received a $600,000 restoration in 2010, the work was undertaken by Ken Sandford Construction.
St Lukes Presbyterian 'Knox' Church was built on Oxford Street eight years after St Georges. The church site was purchased in 1876 in the names of Messrs W Aitchison and D Coutts. The church was opened on 2 November 1879 and cost £430 to build. In 1962 the Presbyterian and Methodists combined, and the church became The Patea Presbyterian and Methodist Church. In 1971 the church was moved to prevent it from shading the new manse. Mr Hunger donated the additional area of land required to reposition the church. A new porch was added at the time the church was moved at a total cost of $7,200. The original Manse associated with this church was moved to Kent Street in 1958 and is still used as a residence.
Methodist Church. In 1875 a quarter acre section on Stafford Street in Carlyle was granted by the Government and the church was built. An adjoining section was purchased the following year. The church measured 30 × 30 feet and was built by Edwin Holtham & Daniel R M Warren for the contract price of £55.10. The church was originally known as the Wesleyan Chapel, and later became known as the Methodist Church. Four years later it was enlarged with provision made for forty additional seats at a cost of £66.10. The original builders, Holtham & Warren completed these additions. After the amalgamation of the Methodist and Presbyterian churches in Patea in 1962, the church was used by the Wesleyan West Coast Māori Mission. The South Taranaki Māori Club (later known as The Patea Māori Club) used the Church for practice when they came into existence in 1970. They were made up of most of the Patea Methodist Māori Club members. The group was formed to practice for, and compete at, the 1971 first National Polynesian Festival at Rotorua. The Church was later used by the Assembly of God. The original shingle roof remains on the building but is covered with a corrugated iron roof. It was relocated to Manutahi Road at Lepperton in 2006, and until then it was the oldest church between Whanganui and New Plymouth still used for its original purpose.
St Patricks Catholic Church, 60 years have passed since the current Catholic Church was built and opened in Patea. This mid-century Linear Modernism concrete building was a much talked about piece of architecture when it appeared on the landscape. The dedication day on 21 December 1958 was a huge and long anticipated event. Archbishop Peter McKeefry did the official honours, assisted by Patea born Bishop Delargey, with our own parish priest Father John Rohan. Over a century earlier, before the township began, a French Catholic Priest walked into the area and meet with Maori that lived there.
This man was Father Jean Étienne Pezant, who had arrived in Akoroa from France in 1840. When the Marists moved to the diocese of Wellington in 1850, Father Pezant moved with them. In February 1852 he became the first parish priest in Whanganui, with oversight of the Taranaki area, and continued to do missionary work among the coastal tribes between the Patea and Rangitikei rivers, usually on foot. He was a fluent speaker of te reo, but the Pai Marire movement and land wars ended his mission work, He moved to the South Island in 1868. From the 1850s until the early 1880’s there was a band of French Priests that covered vast areas of remote country, working with Maori and the few white settlers there at that time. The names of these Priest’s from France that spent time in Patea are on the list at the end of this story, but the dates are unclear, as they came and went as the need arose. They would have performed baptisms, marriages and funerals in Patea, but there are no records surviving of these events until 1891.
Father Maurice Tresallet was another French Priest that spent time in Patea. On his arrival in New Zealand he spoke only French, but soon became fluent in the Māori language. A story I found in the Wairapapa Daily Times, tells of a memoire of a pioneering lady that met Fr Tresallet, when he stopped at her home in Turakina on his way north. She tried to tell him he could stay the night, but he couldn’t understand a word of english, and kept bowing and walking towards the door. It wasn’t until her husband came home and had the idea to asked the priest in te reo to stay the night. “The latter was overjoyed when he found there was a language which they both understood, and in it they conversed during a long evening”. In 1866 the Nelson Examiner tells of Father Tresallet attending to a man’s final rites in Nelson before he was executed. These pioneering Priests had an amazing aptitude for survival and fortitude in a country far away from their own.
In 1865 French born; Father Louis Rolland took charge of the parish from White Cliffs to Kai Iwi. He was a military chaplain with the 18th Royal Irish Regiment as well as parish priest and ministered at the military encampment at Patea. He rode a chestnut coloured horse which he later sold to William Sergeant, a Grenadier of the 65th Regiment, and it was from then on known as ‘the Priest’
Fr Rolland was a plucky, unpretentious ‘man of the cloth’. This account of Fr Rolland written by Major Von Tempsky after the first battle at Te Ngutu o te Manu on 21 August 1868 gives an insight to his character. (Von Tempsky was killed at 3 weeks later on 7 Sept at the second battle) “On that grey and rainy morning in 1868” wrote Major Von Tempsky, " when the snoring waters of the Waingongoro were muttering of flood and fury to come, when our three hundred mustered silently in column on the parade ground, one man made his appearance, who at once drew all eyes upon him with silent wonder. His garb was most peculiar; scant but long skirts shrouded his nether garments, and an old waterproof sheet hung loosely over his shoulders. Weapons he had none, but there was a warlike cock in the position of his broad-brimmed old felt, and a self confidence in the attitude in which he leaned on his walking stick, that said ' Here stands a man without fear.' Who is it? Look underneath the flap of his clerical hat, and the frank, good humoured, brave countenance of Father Rolland will meet you. There he was lightly arrayed for the march of which no one could say what the ending would be. With a good humoured smile he answered my question as to 'what on earth brought him there’. He said that in holding evening service he had told his flock that he would accompany them on the morrow and there he was! True, there stood, 'a good Shepherd." Through the rapid river, waist deep, along the weary forest track, across ominous looking clearings, where, at any moment a volley from an ambuscade could have swept our ranks, Father Rolland marched cheerfully and manfully, ever ready with a kind word, a playful sentence to any man who passed him. And when at last in the clearings of Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu the storm of bullets burst upon us he did not wait in the rear for men to be brought to him but- ran with the rest of us forward against the enemy's position. As soon as any man dropped, he was by his side, he did not ask ' are you a Catholic?' or ' are you a Protestant?' but kneeling prayed for his ' last words.' Thrice noble conduct in a century of utilitarian tendencies. What Catholic on that expedition could have felt fear when he saw Father Rolland by his side, smiling at death a living personation, a fulfilment of many a text preached? what Catholic could have but felt proud of being a Catholic on that day on Father Rolland's account?"
Father Rolland had great admiration for the troops and was with them wherever there was likelihood of fighting. He knew no fear. More than once his hat was riddled with bullets, but he would continue his ministrations with the same determination. His contemporaries often tried to get that old bullet riddled hat, contending that the Church of Taranaki had a right to it. “I am no saint” the old priest would reply “and I intend to leave no relics behind me”. He left Patea in 1875 and ended his days as Parish Priest at Reefton. When he died at the age of 68 in 1903, he was given a full Military funeral.
Father Jean Lampila was known to Maori he lived amongst as Hone Rapira. Before he came to New Zealand in 1841, he was a sergeant in the French army. He was based up the Whanganui River in the 1850’s and helped local Maori build Flour Mills. On 4 May 1864 he was ‘in the thick of battle’ at the Battle of Moutoa Island. It is reported in the Wanganui Chronicle the following day that his companion on the battlefield; Brother Fredleau was killed that day. Brother Fredleau was a carpenter from France and had been building Flour Mills with the Priest’s. In the 1870’s Fr Lampila was in charge of New Plymouth parish and came to Patea when needed. He returned to France in 1888 and died there 9 years later.
The first Catholic Church in Patea was built in about 1870 due to the efforts of Father Rolland and the efficacious Catholic businessman Mr Felix McGuire. Felix had been in the military and then set up a General Store in Patea in the late 1860’s. His store burnt down on 16th April 1876, as reported in The Patea Mail on 19th April, he moved to Hawera in 1877 and set up a Brewery on the corner of High and Cameron Streets and was elected Mayor of Hawera in 1881. Felix McGuire later spent 11 years in Parliament as MP for Egmont, while living in Okaiawa.
Felix McGuire was a firm believer in setting up infrastructure to give the town a sense of place, so a Catholic Chapel for the new township of Patea was essential. The Church is referred to as the 'Carlyle Catholic Chapel'. The Anglican’s built their first St Georges Church around the same time in 1871. The Methodist and Presbyterian Churches were built a few years later.
In 1844 an Wesleyan mission house was established near Wai o turi Marae, it was abandoned in 1848. In June 1875 a fierce west coast storm caused major damage to the Catholic Chapel, blowing it off its foundations. It was repaired in time for the visit of Bishop Francis Redwood in September 1875.
The Patea Mail 22 Sept 1875 tells of the plans for this memorial trip; ‘His Lordship Bishop Redwood has intimated his intention visit Patea on Friday next, and at a meeting of the Catholic residents of Carlyle, held on Monday evening last, to make arrangements for His Lordship’s reception, the following programme was arranged, subject to the Bishop's approval : —The reception committee will leave Carlyle at 11am. on Friday next, for Whenuakura, where His Lordship will be met, and a buggy (which has been placed at the disposal of the Committee by Mr McGuire) will be in waiting, in which the Bishop will be driven into Patea, accompanied by as many members the Church who can make it convenient to ride out. The buggy will halt opposite Mr McGuire’s cottage, and his Lordship will descend and partake of refreshment. An address of welcome will be presented to the Bishop in the Church at 7 p.m. It has been arranged that a number of young girls, dressed in white, with white veils, will form a line on each side of the aisle, under the charge of Mesdames Lyttelton and Wheelan, and as His Lordship enters the Church the children will sing the hymn of the Good Shepherd, At its conclusion, the address of welcome will be presented, when His Lordship’s reply will follow. After the ceremony being concluded, the Bishop will be driven out to Mr Burke’s residence at Manutahi, where it is understood His Lordship will reside during his stay in this district.’ A few days later the report of his visit was documented in the Patea Mail and it all went to plan as intended.
Father Eugene Pertuis took over from Father Rolland in 1875. The Patea Mail reports in May 1877 : “A little way above it, on a hill, are three places of worship, alongside each other. There is one for the Church of England, of which the Rev. Mr Dasent is the pastor; the Wesleyan Church, of which Rev. Mr Law is the minister; and the Roman Catholic Chapel in which the Rev. Father Pertuis celebrates mass. It is said that there is but one road to Heaven, and the Carlyle people follow this precept with regard to their churches, for all go in the same direction, and the separation only takes place on arriving at the doors of their respective religious edifices, to meet again when the devotions are over.”
Father Pertuis was very musical with a good singing voice, he liked to accompany the singing at Benediction by playing his Concertina. He also had a bent for mending timepieces of any description and also door locks. At that time, of course, there were few watchmakers or locksmiths in Taranaki, so his services even in this regard were often sought. He died in 1906 and is buried at Kaori Cemetery.
Rev Dean Michael Grogan from Dungamon in Ireland was appointed to the charge of the district in 1880, which then included the whole of the coast from Wanganui to New Plymouth. He remained here for four years, and during that time he paid off £760 of debt, built two churches and a presbytery, enlarged the church at Hawera, and secured land in six different districts for future church purposes. The Patea Mail on 4 May 1880 tells of the tribulations of a country Priest: ‘An Accident befell Father Grogan while driving a horse and buggy on Sunday morning, to attend service at the Carlyle Catholic Church. Descending the hill towards the Patea bridge on the Whenuakura side, the horse appears to have felt the trap pressing on behind, and kicking out it soon knocked its shoes through the front apron, injuring Father Grogan’s leg with the furious backward fling. The horse tore the shafts off the buggy, and was dashing away with them, but Father Grogan leapt from the machine at the same moment, and gallantly seizing the animal’s head brought him to a stand. The Father was not seriously the worse for his narrow escape, but the church congregation were knelt waiting more than an hour for his delayed appearance, before service could begin. It is the same neat buggy that was made by Messrs Williams for Father Ryan, and it can be repaired.
It was during Fr Grogan’s time that the second Catholic Church in Patea was built, replacing the old Chapel. The new building was built along traditional Gothic styles, 50ft long by 30ft wide. It had a choir loft above the front entrance which looked down on the altar. A small Presbytery was also built next door, where the Nuns Convent was later built in 1969. The Church was named St Patrick’s, and was opened by Bishop Redwood on December 18, 1881. This was built at a cost of £1400 and the adjoining Presbytery cost £250. It was designed by Wellington architect, Thomas Turnbull and built by James O'Dea. Fr Grogan went to Napier Parish in 1884, where he died in 1912 at the age of 69. Fr A D Mulvihill replaced Fr Grogan, he stayed for 7 years before he was transferred to Australia.
All the priests that administered in Patea up until this time did not live here. For almost 40 years they were in charge of a huge catchment, often from New Plymouth to Whanganui. The records of Baptism’s, Marriages and funerals during that time have been lost with the passing of time. Records in the possession of St Patricks Parish begin in 1891. the earliest Catholic Burial recorded in the Patea Cemetery…would it be 56 year old Michael Foley on 5 Sept 1878 Fr Pertuis was the officiating priest that day. There would have Catholic burials before then, but a special area was not set aside until then. Father Ryan covered the area for a few months in 1879
The first permanent Priest that lived in Patea was Father Thomas McKenna in 1891.In 1892 Fr McKenna had two fine rooms added onto the Presbytery with a beautiful bay window added to the new Parlour. He also had the sandhills removed from behind the Church and a lawn laid. Fr McKenna was born in Kilkenny Ireland and arrived in NZ soon after his brother Fr John McKenna in 1888 at the age of 24. After a few years in Masterton he went to Patea to set it up as an independent parish in 1891 When Pahiatua was established as a separate parish in 1894, Thomas returned as its first priest. John and Thomas McKenna were able administrators and outstanding pastoral priests who together laid the foundation of the Catholic church in Wairarapa. Both John and Thomas McKenna were famous throughout Wairarapa as enthusiastic sportsmen and able athletes. They represented Wairarapa at rugby, playing under their mother's maiden name; Wallace. Fr Thomas was made a Dean after his time in Patea. He is buried at Paihitua
During the time of Fr McGrath the Sisters of St Josephs arrived in Patea and the St Joseph Convent School was established on Suffolk St in 1904 with a roll of 72 children. The first Nuns were Sister’s Catherine, Angela, Margaret Mary, Elizabeth and Sister Peter. A house was built for them next to the School, it was demolished in 1970 when the new Nun’s residence was built.
Many students have past through its doors since. Two students that have gone on to the ‘worlds stage’ are ‘Soprano’ Lynne Cantlon and Reginald Delargey who became Cardinal of the NZ Catholic Church in 1976. His father Archibald, was Manager of the BNZ Bank in Patea in the 1920’s and his mother Kathleen sadly died at the age of 45 and is buried in the Patea Cemetery. The family moved away not long after, but her husband Archibald was buried beside her when he died 30 years later. Cardinal Delargey died in Auckland on 29 January 1979. After an impressive funeral, which was televised live, he was buried in the priests’ plot in Karori cemetery, Wellington.
Fundraising Bazaars and Tug-a-War competitions were all part of the activities to raise money for the new Catholic Presbytery under the guidance of Father Duffy. Kakaramea and Alton were the Tug-a-War teams to bet. In 1919 the new Presbytery was opened on a new site on the beach side of the Church. It is not known what happened to the old Presbytery, it may have remained standing for a few more years. Sadly Father Duffy didn’t get to enjoy his new home for long, as he died at the end of 1920 at the age of 44. His Obituary in the Patea Mail on 27 November 1920 tells of the high regard he was held in Patea: “Very general regret will be felt at the news of the death at Patea of Father Duffy who as the parish priest for fourteen years had become very sincerely liked and respected in Patea and district. He succeeded another popular priest, the late Father McGrath. He was born in County Longford, Ireland, forty-four years ago, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1902, spending the first 'few years of his clerical ministry at Pahiatua and Carterton. He had been in indifferent health for several years 3 and a short time ago it was found that an operation was necessary. Despite all that medical skill and the ministration of kind friends could do at home and in the Patea Hospital, he gradually failed and passed quietly away early on Friday morning”. He is buried in the Patea Cemetery next to Fr McGrath.
Fr Daniel McLaughlin was a Curate (assistant Priest) for Fr Duffy during WWI. He was born in Whenuakura in 1891, the son of Hugh and Mary McLaughlin and baptized at St Patrick Church Patea. The family moved to a farm at Rawhitiroa a few years later. During his time as a priest in Patea Father McLaughlin’s brother Lance Corporal John Joseph McLaughlin was killed in action in France. Fr McLaughlin went on to become Parish Priest for Marton and then Stratford, where he died and is buried in 1935.
The Hibernian Society was formed in Patea under the guidance of Fr Michael Broughton in September 1934. The first 11 members were initiated by the Provincial President; Bernard McCarthy (Lawyer) Hawera. It was a fellowship group and most Parish’s had a Hibernian Society, they would meet with other groups on a regular basis. Its purpose was to act as a Sick and Funeral Benefit, to a Life and Fire Insurance Soc, as well as a very successful Credit Union and a Permanent Building Society. Mary Boyle was Secretary/Treasurer from 1942 until she died in 2001.
Fr John Rohan was the longest serving Parish Priest – 36 years. He arrived in Patea in 1936, at the age of 36. Three years before WWII was declared and Patea was a boom town with a very strong Catholic congregation. A couple of years after he arrived my Great Aunt Suzie Dwyer started work as his Housekeeper. She was meant to stay only a few weeks until he found someone permanent, but almost 30 years later she was still there when Fr Rohan retired to Taupo in 1971. Sadly he died a year later at the age of 73. He was returned to his beloved parish of Patea and buried at the Patea Cemetery. Fr Rohan was a well respected man, he enjoyed a Sunday afternoon games of euchre at the Crawford home at Whenuakura. He was a regular at Circus’s and sporting events at Patea. Boxing Day Athletics at the Domain he could be found holding the Finish-Line Ribbon with Gordon Scown. They would walk into the middle of the track after each race, still holding the ribbon, to discuss who the place-getters should be.
It was during Fr Rohan’s time in Patea that the present Church was built. The last couple to get married in the old wooden St Patrick’s Church were Johnny and Noeline Kerrisk on 16 February 1957. The church was then rolled to one side of the section and continued to be used for Sunday services and more weddings until the new one was finished, the final one on the temporary site was Nola and Butch Railton. The old church was intended to be used as a Hall, but a huge storm in May 1958 caused major structural damage and it was demolished when the new Church was opened. The first couple to be married in the new Church was Hendrik and Rona Schrader on 7 Feb 1959
Vin Bloor won the tender to build the existing church and began the task in 1957. Vin was a WWII returned soldier and built among other things, the Matapu War Memorial Hall. He was to run into financial strife during the huge project of the new Catholic Church. He gave up building on a full-time basis at the completion of St Patrick’s Church and bought the Hurleyville Store and the small dairy farm attached to it, with his wife Mavis. But he did do an amazing job of the largely concrete constructed Church. It is approximately 490m² in size and the cost is thought to be £30,000. It was designed by well-known Wellington architect John W Standish, who tragically drowned in 1964. It was opened dept free, to the credit of Fr Rohan, who spent years canvasing the district for pledges from parishioners. The adjoining convent was opened by Bishop O N Snedden in 1970. Built at an approximate cost of $36,000 by Arthur Brown Construction of Hawera.
On 18 November 1973, while making arrangements by telephone at the presbytery for the accommodation of a convalescent priest whom he had just visited, McKeefry died suddenly, a cigarette smouldering between his fingers. He was buried in Karori cemetery after a funeral attended by numerous civic and ecclesiastical dignitaries and amidst copious tributes from within and beyond his own church. He was succeeded by Reginald Delargey.
The statue of St Patrick that was in an alcove high up at the front of the old wooden Church was still sitting under the Pohutakawa’s between the Church and the Presbytery in the 1980’s. It had been set on a concrete plinth that some well-meaning parishioners had poured into a mould, then sat the statue in it. When they checked on it after having a cup of tea, the statue had sunken into the concrete and was set in it up to its knees. It was a slightly sad end for a statue that watched over the town for 77 years.
On Sunday 21 December 1958, the newly built Church was officially opened to great fanfare. Pews which had been bought by various Catholic families were packed tight with the congregation. 300 could be seated, and many more were upstairs in the choir loft or in the foyer.
The job of keeping the copper stocked and boiling in the washhouse behind the Presbytery, for the cups of the tea afterward, was given to the Dwyer boys; Danny, Keiran, Kevin and Brian. There were cigars were lined up for the Priests and Bishops on a table nearby….this temptation proved too much for these curious youngsters, and they each lit a cigar to pass the time keeping the water boiling on that hot summers day.
Catholic Priest’s of Patea
1852 Father Jean Étienne Pezant
1863 Father Maurice Tressallet
1865 Father John Baptiste Louis Rolland
1874 Father Jean Lampila
1875 Father Eugene Pertuis
1879 Father Ryan
1880-1884 Father Michael Grogan, 1843-1912went to Napier in 1884, 2nd Patea church built in his time
1884-1891 Father A D Mulvihill
1891-1894 Father Thomas McKenna
1894-1895 Father Patrick Joseph Power
1895-1899 Father Golden
1899-1906 Father William McGrath
1901-1902 Father W Johnson (curate)
1906-1920 Father Edward Duffy
1916-1918 Father Daniel McLaughlin (curate)
1923-1925 Father P Masterton (curate)
1920-1922 Father Thomas Cahill
1922-1927 Father Edward Phelan
1927-1928 Father Edward Lynch
1928-1930 Father Nicholas Moore
1929-1932 Father C Harnett
1930-1933 Father Richard Hegarty
1932-1934 Father John Joseph Garrahy
1934-1936 Father Michael Broughton
1936-1971 Father John Rohan
Curates during Fr Rohan’s time:
Father Owen Dolan
Father J F Kelly
Father J Roy
Father W Walsh
Father R J Fitzgibbon
Father C Stapleton
Father H Costello
1971-1975 Father James McNeill
1975-1981 Father John McLaughlin
1981-1989 Father John Dykes
1990-1997 Father P J Cumiskey
1997-2004 Father Steve Hancey
2004-2009 Father Anthony Ford
2009-2013 Father Bill Casey